Discover Yourself - Act 3
by DreamSeeker
Summary: The group gets acquainted.


"Discover Yourself" – Act 3

Disclaimer: The characters of Peter and Sophie, and any Cliffhangers mentioned, do not belong to me. I have added some of my own characters into the mix. 

"_Knowing others is wisdom; Knowing the self is enlightenment; Mastering others requires force; Mastering the self needs strength._" – Tao te Ching

May 30, 2001

Late Evening

"Alright, if everyone could take a seat, we'll begin." Peter looked around the lodge as the newcomers all found seats. Sophie stood next to him, trying not to appear too eager to start the orientation. 

"I believe I had a chance to meet you all earlier, but just to refresh your memories, I am Peter Scarbrow, and this is Sophie Becker." Sophie gave everyone a smile. "We will be your guides for the "Discover Yourself" program." Peter paused, looking around the room. "I think we'll start off by having everyone introduce themselves, tell us a little bit about yourself, and say what you hope to achieve during these next 3 weeks. John, why don't you start?"

John was seated to Peter's left and was hoping Peter would start on the other side of the room. He looked up at Peter and Sophie, then toward the rest of the group. "Umm… okay. My name is John Schultz. I work for Ford Motor Company. I work a lot of overtime, so I don't really have time for much else. I enjoy running, and I hope some of these outdoor excursions will be challenging." He looked back toward Peter, who was smiling. 

"Thanks, John, good to have you here. And don't worry, I think you'll find the planned outdoor activities to be plenty challenging. Okay, who's next?" He looked to Troy, seated next to John. "How about it, Troy?"

Troy sat up straighter and cleared his throat. "Hi, I'm Troy Carroll. I'm a high school English teacher, and I have a beautiful little girl, Claire," he said proudly with a smile. 

"Are you married?" asked John.

"No," Troy answered, looking down and not wanting to expand on his answer. 

"And she let you have custody of your girl? How did that happen, man?" John asked, puzzled. 

"It happened because I was married to a wonderful woman, Claire's mother, but she died," answered Troy quietly, keeping his voice under control but unable to look up. The room became silent. 

"Okay, Troy, we appreciate you sharing that with us," Peter said, trying to ease some of the tension that was now in the room. "Listen, guys, the whole idea of this program is about self-discovery, but it's entirely up to each of you how much you want to share about yourself with the rest of us. But I can tell you from my own personal experience," Peter paused and glanced over at Sophie, "that it does help to talk about your problems, because you never know who might understand what you're going through and be able to help, or just sit there and listen." 

Sophie nodded in agreement. "I know that the notion of talking about your private thoughts and feelings with complete strangers seems very strange, so we don't want to push that. That's why we just wanted to get acquainted with each other tonight, kind of break the ice a bit. But there is never a wrong time or a right time to share whatever is on your mind, just remember that."

"Hey, I'm sorry, Troy. I didn't mean to bring all that up, I was just curious," John said, patting Troy on the back.

"Don't worry about it. No harm, no foul." Troy gave John a quick smile. "Uh, going back to the original question, I'm looking forward to the outdoor activities, it's been awhile since I've done anything like that. And some self-improvement never hurts, I suppose," he finished with another smile. 

"Okay, thanks Troy. Next, we have … Alison." Peter looked over at Alison, who was seated next to Troy.

Alison looked up at Peter and Sophie, smiling shyly. "Uh, hi, I'm Alison Smith, you all can call me Ali. There's really not much to tell. I work in accounting for an insurance company, nothing too exciting." She shrugged, looking down once again and fidgeting with her hair. 

Peter and Sophie exchanged glances. "Ali, what would you like to accomplish while you're here?" Sophie asked gently, sensing Ali's discomfort. 

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that part," she said, a distressed look on her face. "Uh, I guess I'd just like to get to know myself better." _Gee, what a lame answer, dummy,_ she thought to herself. 

"Great, thanks Ali. Okay, Lynn?" Sophie looked at Lynn, seated next to Ali.

Lynn looked up, smiling slightly. "My name is Lynn Monroe. I've been working in sales management for three years now. I would like to…" _be anywhere but here_, she thought, "learn some more about my personal likes and dislikes, and try some new physical activities," she concluded with a self-assured smile. 

"Thanks, Lynn. Next we have Elizabeth." Peter looked at Elizabeth expectantly, who was busy studying John. "Elizabeth, would you like to introduce yourself?"

"What? Oh, sorry." She smiled apologetically at Peter, blushing. "I'm Elizabeth Barnes, but please call me Liz. I'll be a junior in college, studying anthropology. I guess I'm just looking forward to having fun, getting to know others, and myself more as well," she said, giving John a smile. John noticed the smile, and looked away, slightly embarrassed. 

"Thank you, Liz. Michael, you're the last one." Peter looked over at Mike, who looked like he wasn't really paying attention to anyone. 

"Oh, um – I'm Mike Wells. I, uh, just graduated from college, and I'm getting ready to start a job after this. I just want to take it easy, maybe learn a few new things." Mike said slowly, not really looking at anything in particular. 

"Okay, that was great, thanks everyone. I know you're all probably tired, getting settled in and all, so we won't keep you long." Peter nodded to Sophie.

"We will be going on a day hike tomorrow, so you are all going to need to eat a good breakfast. But I'm going to hand out now something for you to finish before the hike tomorrow," Sophie said, passing around a stack of papers. "These are just some questions to get your mind going on some different issues that make you the way you are. It's up to you if you want Peter or me to read them when you're through, but be prepared to discuss some of these questions tomorrow. We like to discuss things a lot here," she finished with a grin. "Okay, guys, see you in the morning!" 

Ali, Lynn, and Liz walked together to their dorm. "Well, this should be interesting. What do you think so far?" Lynn asked the other two.

"I think I can handle three weeks with those guys, especially John! Is he cute or what?" Liz said with a giggle. 

"Yeah, I guess," Lynn answered, already annoyed with Liz. "What about you, Ali?"

"I dunno. Everyone seems nice enough," she said, giving the other two women a smile. "I'm a little nervous about some of the physical stuff, I'm not really the athletic type." She looked down, wondering if she should have confessed that last tidbit.

"Ali, don't worry, you'll be fine. We'll help you out if necessary," Lynn gave her a smile.

Ali smiled back. _Wow, why can't I be that confident_, she wondered. 

Troy, Mike and John walked to their dorm, mostly in silence. 

"Hey, what do you guys think about Lynn?" asked Mike, grinning. "She is HOT!"

"I'd watch your step, there, man. I just looked at her on the bus ride here, and she gave me a look from hell. I hadn't even said anything to her yet!" John grimaced from the memory, then smiled. "Maybe she doesn't like men, what do you think?"

Troy laughed. "I think we all need to get some sleep, is what I think. I haven't been hiking for a long time, I'm going to need all the energy I can get."

Peter walked into the bedroom and looked over at Sophie, who was writing in a notepad on the bed. "Soph, what are you doing? We need to get some sleep." 

Sophie looked up at him and yawned. "I know, Peter, I'm exhausted. I just want to get some of these thoughts down about the group, while they're still fresh in my mind. I won't be much longer."
    
    "Okay, I'm going to finish getting ready for bed, then." Peter smiled as Sophie mumbled a reply, lost in her journal writing.

__

It's been an interesting first day to "Discover Yourself". Peter thinks I'm a bit antsy to get to know everyone. I am, but I just want the program to be a success. 

Let's see, here are my impressions of everyone so far: John – somewhat confident, very athletic, a bit lonely. __

Troy – proud father, still mourning the death of his wife. It would help him to talk about her death and his feelings more. Easy-going guy, I can see how he'd be a good teacher.

Lynn – very self-assured, but it almost seems like she's putting on a front. Is she happy with her job? What about friends?

Ali – low self-esteem, doesn't like talking in group much. Doesn't seem to like her job. 

Liz – likes to have a good time. Still has some growing up to do. Seems a little boy-crazy, too, she was trying to flirt with John or Troy, I couldn't tell which. My guess is John, though, less baggage there.

Mike – low-key, I can't figure him out. Seems laid back, almost too much so. I'll have to talk to him some tomorrow and get a better idea about him.

Peter's ready for bed, it's time to stop writing and get some sleep. Or maybe I'll get lucky tonight, who knows? 

Til tomorrow, then!

I know this is very slow in developing, I'll try to pick up the pace a bit with the next couple of stories. Please review and let me know if there is something you like, don't like – you get the idea. J - DreamSeeker


End file.
